I love discovering “ new to me” artists, and the latest to be brought to my attention (courtesy of another Think Country team member!) is New York native Jenna Torres. Her third studio album “ All Heart” , written and recorded in Nashville before the pandemic and produced by Stephen Leiweke, is due early next year and sees Jenna digging deep to express all the feelings that come with loving, losing and everything else that life has thrown at her and which will no doubt resonate with the listener in some shape or form.
We got a taste of what to expect with the recent release of the album’s stunning title track , the second single to be taken from the upcoming project and which is a beautifully moving ballad in which Jenna exposes her vulnerability as she lays her cards on the table at the beginning of a new relationship. She’s not afraid to give her all, but needs reassuring…..” just promise me you’ll finish what you start” she pleads in a way only someone whose had their heart broken in the past can express.
“ So often when I am writing I can see pictures of what I am trying to say” she explains. “ This song came with an unshakable image: when I am at my most open and most vulnerable, it feels as though my heart is not inside me – I am inside my heart”. The rawness of her soulful vocals is amplified by the totally stripped back arrangement, and this same simplicity and intimacy is reflected in the track’s accompanying video

As well as her own back catalogue ( her last release being the critically acclaimed 2017 album “ Wild Sugar”) Jenna has enjoyed a successful career writing songs for Warner Music Group to whom she signed back in 2006 and Warner/Chapel Music. Travelling to Nashville from NYC monthly to write she has explored different avenues of songwriting over the years, and has concluded that the formulaic process favoured by some is not how the creative process best works for her. She is someone who’s writing is inspired by her own feelings and experiences as opposed to observing others, and as well as it helping her process her own emotions she hopes that her music can help others through whatever challenges life may be throwing at them. As Jenna puts it so well herself, “ I believe in the power of song. Words set to music have the ability to touch us in a way that words alone often can’t. The coolest thing about being a songwriter is that somehow in the process of trying to heal myself, I am making something that might touch somebody else!”.
Over the years her songwriting has helped her through life’s ups and downs, both on a deeply personal level as a single mother after her the dissolution of her marriage and in a wider context. Working in NYC just after 9/11 she turned to writing music as a way of finding peace and now back in her home city she has found herself once more using songs to heal amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
Having spent a particularly creative 2019 in Nashville, not only did she write and record her new album but apparently she has enough material for a further two, so hopefully we can expect to hear a lot more from Jenna in the near future. But focussing on the album we know we will definitely be getting very soon, its lead single “ Wild Thing” released last month reaffirms Jenna a someone who writes from the heart while showing a different side to her femininity. This time round she sings of the fiercely free side of her nature in a rousing track with a strong beat that is representative of her drive and determination. While she may not be for the faint hearted she’s definitely someone worth taking a chance on….. “ The canyons will echo, the earth it will shake as all your preconceived notions will break”. And I love how the outfit she wears in the accompanying video is representative of the eagle’s wings she sings about!

Yes, this album is one I’m really excited to hear in its entirety, thank you so much for introducing me to Jenna’s wonderful music Patti McClintic!
For more information on Jenna and links to her socials go to jennatorres.com